Fruit grader



J. JAMES FRUIT GRADER Feb. 15, 1955 2 Shets-Sheet 1 Filed July 22, 1953INVENTOR.

W m a Jmm /y H MW Feb. 15, 1955 JAMES 2,702,118

FRUIT GRADER Filed July 22, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 INVENTOR. Jo llyJames,

BY mm His khf'orney smileys-9a United States Patent?) i 2,702,118

Lab are ttm s. ese fruit moving IL to provide th ,s A 3 1! hlgh gradefru a d. u in the form of rollers which;ar en to rn,

2,7 1. theitdir t sngot els h z tmq ma -.shaft- 6 and a,s ta nar meansfor separating 1 "tonic: ditrhete qf fruit 'whichlis The a n i sh,-. tis h intestate ller a aimsc 1n"c6njunct 1dh therr set with the drawingsdisclosing specific embodiments dftlie within eac h n..whe easmflat.refetsn gsc tastqts are P- h plied toc'o p'oridifig'piaitsthrb'hfoiitfandin which: i l lo Fig. l is fa? planlviewi'of va fruit "graderand conveyor aged with inaccordance W1th my lnvention; 1ke,;for,,t he;pgptg c- 2"is' anenlarged"lofigifudirial sectionalviwbn e r ted of'sheetmetal, line 22 of Fig. 1; the exposed edges are preferably beaded orrounded, as

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view on line 33 a furtherprecaution. on Fi 1; In operation, as Fig. 5 shows, a piece of fruit Fwhich Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view on line 44 on Fig. 1; has beenrolled along on the top of the table 11, from and the front end to therear end thereof, by the reversely Fig. 5 is an enlarged diagrammaticview illustrating turning roller R. As shown, the fruit F approaches thethe operation of one of the fruit grading devices. rear edge of thetable surface ahead of the roller. These Referring more specifically tothe views of the drawpositions of the roller and the fruit isrepresented by ings where I have illustratively disclosed an embodimentdotted circles R1 and F1, respectively. The fruit then of my invention,it will be seen that I provide a fruit drops down on the inclined plane41 being given a backconveyor table 11 presenting an elongatedhorizontally ward impulse as it falls over the rear edge of the table 11disposed surface whereupon the fruit F is rolled along so that itstrikes the inclined panel 41 approximately at from the front end to therear end by transversely disthe position designated as F2. During thistime it is posed fruit moving members R, the latter being carried beingapproached by the roller R which arrives at a posion and moved along byendless flexible members such tion substantially at R2, from which itwill be seen that as a pair of machine chains 13. this piece of fruit isjust large enough to be reengaged The apparatus embodies structuralsupport members by the roller. The next position, designated as R3 andsuch as the two elongated side pieces or channels 15 0 F3, shows theroller pushing the fruit up the incline 41 wherebetween the conveyortable is secured and supto pass the fruit over the rear edge of thispanel to be ported. On the ends of the two. side pieces 15 bearingtested for size in the next grader. A piece of fruit of brackets 17 areprovided to rotatively support shafts 19 slightly smaller size wouldhave passed through this first which carry and drive chain wheels 21over which the grader, adjusted as shown. two chains 13 pass. The upperstraight runs of the The structural cross-piece 49 and the crossedpieces 51 chains pass along opposite sides of the table 11, upon theserve to join the side pieces 15 in a rigid conveyor strucupper surfacesof the side pieces 23 on which the chains ture. Under the lower edge ofeach inclined grader slide along being thereby held accurately at apredeterpanel 41, an individual chute 47 is provided to receive minedlevel. This also serves to exclude the rolling all the fruit from thatparticular grader and to guide it fruit from contact with the chains.therefrom in segregated relation. Such troughs are in- The fruit movingmembers R xt nd sv rs y clined so that the fruit rolls by gravity to oneside of the across over and rather close to the table surface, asconveyor bl to b packed fo marketing d hi Shown, belng supported fromthe chams by means of ment. Various polishing and other fruit processingbrackets 25 which rise therefrom, in a chain attachment $3 1 5???ci iiiiifsiirfii?niisbi fil 'meiifbfiiii firififi that the te 1s Cleanedpollslled In good marketably comprises a shaft 26 having a thickcovering 27 able condltion by the time 1t reaches the graders at the ofsoft rubbeplike material. rear end of the conveyor table, in the mannerdis- While certain kinds of fruit or vegetable products y co-pelldlngUnited States Patent Application may be moved by the transverse fruitmoving members 361131 199,684 filed December 9 0. Sai appli- R beingsimple cross-pieces passing along non-rotatively, cation also shows thefruit conveyor table having the elements may be disposed along theconveyor table so reversely rotated rollers moving thereover to rollfruit freely along on the table.

It is apparent that within the scope of the invention modifications anddifferent arrangements may be made other than herein disclosed, and thepresent disclosure s "illustrative merely, the invention comprehendingvari- 'ations thereof. a t

' I claim as my invention: 1. A fruit grader and conveyor having incombination ,a fruit conveyor table of elongated shape,- fruit moving;''means for rolling fruit along on said conveyor, table toward the rearendthereof, the rear end of said fruit conveyor table being conformed toprovide a plurality Ofj fl'llii grading means disposed cooperativelywith said fruit moving means so that the fruit is rolled along over thegrading means to be separated in a plurality or dif- 'ferentpredetermined grade sizes, each of said fruit grading means comprisingan inclined fruit receiving surf'acein alignment with the table surfaceand means supporting the inclined fruit receiving surface of each fruitgrading means with its rearward end substantially level with said tableand its 'frontward end disposed slightly to the rear of the rearmost endof the preceding fruit carrying surface and at a level which is lowerthan said-fruit 'Lmoving means by an amount equal to the predetermineddiameter of fruit which is tobe separated at each --'fruit gradingmeans.

a fruit grader and conveyor in accordance with claim '1 and furthercharacterized by said support means -having a pivot shaft extendingacross under the rearward end of each inclined fruit receiving surfacefor pivotally supporting it about level with the fruit conveyor table'surface, and convenient adjustable means supporting the 'frontward endof each inclined fruit receiving surface at 1 a level which may beadjusted to a desired position below the fruit moving means to separatefruit of the desired diameter as said fruit moving means moves the fruitalong the table to passrover the inclined fruit receiving 7 surfaces.

3."A fruit grader comprising an elongated table surface, fruit movingmembers moving over said tablesur- -faee for rolling fruit therealongfrom the front end toward'the back end thereof, a plurality offrontwardly inclined fruit grading panels disposed in a series relation"for having fruit passed successively thereover, and the front portionsof said inclined panels being at different levels sufiiciently below thefruit moving members passing thereover so that fruit of a. predeterminedsize to be selected at each panel will be permitted to roll frontward bygravity under the fruit moving member and to be dropped from the frontedge of each such inclined fruit grading panel.

4. A fruit grader in accordance with claim 3 and each of said fruitmoving members being a rotatively carried roller disposed transverselyof the long axis of said table surface, and meansfor turningsaid rollersto rotate in a reverse direction compared to the direction of rotationof the fruitrolling along upon the table surface.

5. In combination in fruit grading apparatus, a fruit conveyor table ofelongated forrn,,a pair of endless machine chains, chain wheels forrunning said chains along opposite sides of said table-'with therearwardly moving runs of the chains disposed at a level above saidtable, rollers extending transversely over and across the table betweenthe runs of the chains moving to the rearward end of the table formoving the fruit to roll along the table toward the rearward endthereof, roller rotating means for rotating said rollers to turnreversely relative to the direction of the fruit to cause the fruit toroll freely along as it is pushed toward the, rear end of the table,driving means for driving said chain wheels in a definite synchronizedrelation, the rear portion of said fruit conveyor table being conformedto provide a plurality of series arranged fruit grading meanscooperative with said rollers to have the fruit rolled along thereoverfor grading the fruit, each of said fruit grading means comprising aninclined fruit receiving panel, means suplevel for cooperation with thereversely turning rollers carried'thereover, to pass the larger fruitfurther to the rear.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,063,008 Allen Dec. 8, 193 s

